Upcoming international film awards

In the lead-up to one of the biggest film events of the year -- the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, we look at other major international film awards on the cinema agenda such as the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong in March and the Cannes Palme d'Or in May.

(Relaxnews) -

In the lead-up to one of the biggest film events of the year - the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, we look at other major international film awards on the cinema agenda such as the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong in March and the Cannes Palme d'Or in May.

The international film awards season started in January in the US with the Golden Globes, which crowned James Cameron's Avatar, followed by the Baftas in the UK which gave its highest honor to The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow. The Spanish-language world's Goyas awarded eight coveted statuettes to Daniel Monzon's Celda 211 ( Cell 211) from Spain, while the Berlin film festival awarded its Golden bear to Bal ( Honey) by Semih Kaplanoglu from Turkey in February.

Here are some of the major international awards scheduled for the coming months:

Oscars: 82nd Academy Awards Ceremony
March 7
Kodak Theatre
Los Angeles, California, USA

The leading film award ceremony gets the world's attention on Hollywood for an event filled with culture, fashion, celebrities and humor with the evening's hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. The 2010 Academy Award race is expected to be one of the most wide open in years while the battle for the coveted best picture statuette has been expanded to include 10 nominees.
http://www.oscars.org

Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong - HKIFF
March 22
Hong Kong

AFA is a program launched in 2007 honoring filmmakers with outstanding achievements in the field of Asian cinema. A panel of jurors composed of professionals whose experiences and expertise in cinema are internationally recognized will choose from among eligible films produced in the region in that year. In 2010, Chinese director Zhang Yimou will be recognized with a prize for his "outstanding contribution to Asian cinema."
http://www.asianfilmawards.org

AMAA: African Movie Academy Awards
April 10
Nigeria

The equivalent of the Oscars for African cinema, this event will be held on April 10 in Nigeria and will be televised across the world. Films from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Namibia, Sierra Leone among other countries will compete at the 5th edition of this awards ceremony.
http://www.ama-awards.com

Cannes Film festival
May 12-23
Cannes, France

Founded in 1946, the Cannes Festival is one of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals in the world. This year celebrates the 63rd edition and the coveted Palme d'Or will be awarded by Tim Burton and his jury.
http://www.festival-cannes.fr

International Indian Film Academy (IIFA)
June
Korea

Dubbed the "Bollywood Oscars", the IIFA awards are an annual showcase for one of the world's most ambitious and prolific film industries. The location changes every year, the event took place in Macau in 2009, in 2010 it will be in Korea and in Toronto, Canada in 2011.
http://www.iifa.com/web07/cntnt/iifa.htm

Venice Film Festival
September 1-11
Venice, Italy

Also called the Mostra, the Venice film festival hands out its Golden Lion, symbol of the festival and of the Venice Art Biennial. In 2009, the world's oldest film festival crowned Lebanon by Israeli director Samuel Maoz.
http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/

Toyko International Film Festival
October
Tokyo, Japan

For the 23rd celebration of the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), the program is yet to be announced. Its top prize, the Sakura Grand Prix went to Eastern Plays by Kamen Kalev from Bulgaria in 2009. An integral part of Japan's film industry and cultural scene since its establishment in 1985, TIFF has grown to become one of the four best-known film festivals in the world with Cannes, Venice and Berlin.
http://www.tiff-jp.net/en

Golden Horse Awards
November
Taipei, Taiwan

The Chinese film industry's largest gathering, the Golden Horse Film Festival goes hand in hand with its most prestigious awards ceremony (which dates back to 1962). The festival spreads out over almost a month and features 200 feature films, documentaries, shorts and animated productions from around the world - and it all leads to the Golden Horse Awards at the end of November in Taipei.
http://www.goldenhorse.org.tw

European Film Awards
December 4
Tallinn, Estonia

Since 1988, the EFA has been celebrating the best of European cinema. From November on, 2,000 members of the European Film Academy will parse down the list of nominees to just over 10 official categories, including Best European Film, Best European Director and Best European Actor/Actress.
http://www.europeanfilmawards.eu